Dear Future President,

Wars are being fought every single day. People are dying and many more are being injured. Every soldier is fighting for their country and what they believe in. They are risking their lives and are fighting with every weapon they can get their hands on. They are heroes, but there is one problem. The weapons they fight with are becoming more and more pricey as technology advances. More elaborate weapons are being made to  fight in these wars. For this reason, among others, the government is setting aside a huge percentage of discretionary spending for the military. A percentage of 55.2 to be exact, which converts into $640 billion. Let me ask you, is this a reasonable amount? Is it absolutely necessary or just a big waste of money? 

China has the biggest military in the entire world with 840,000 more in the active military than America (which is over half of America's military population), yet they spend over 3 times less than America. This is due to the insane time and manpower wasted on things that can be avoided. For example, America had almost 9,000 M-1 Abrams tanks in 2014, half of which were in storage. With this in mind, they still produced more and more every year. In 2013, $183 million went down the drain on the tanks. If the tanks were to be stopped being produced, the budget could be reduced by millions. This single change could make an immense difference.

I understand that the military makes a tremendous contribution to our society and is extremely important to our safety. Nonetheless, I believe the military shouldn't fight so many wars in different countries. The yearly cost of stationing one soldier in Iraq could feed 60 American families. Imagine what would happen if there were 100 soldiers less in Iraq. 6,000 families could be fed. All this saved money could potentially stop homelessness or at least help end it. If America focused more on helping their own country, rather than fighting against others, we would be able to see a great change in our environment and economy.

As you can see, there are multiple reasons for lowering the military's budget, and an even greater number of ways that America can cut down the costs. Future President, PLEASE consider cutting the budget of our military spending to help America in a countless number of ways.